I'm Back: Sam's Story
by Lilgrimmapple
Summary: As a child, Sam ran away from home to escape the terrifying torment that her great-uncle put her through. Taken in by her kindly time-traveling grandfather, 15-year-old Sam was given a mission to help a few prehistoric dinosaurs find their way to a museum in the early 20th century New York City- the very time and place that Sam thought and hoped she would never return to.
1. The Time Traveler's Granddaughter

**I'm Back: Sam's Story**

 **Summary** : _Sam ran away from home to escape the terrifying torment that her great-uncle put her through. By luck, she was spirited away by her kindly grandfather who had disappeared from the face of the earth in order to grant wishes to children. After a couple of years, Sam was given a mission to help a few prehistoric dinosaurs find their way to a museum in the early 20th century New York City- the very time and place that Sam thought and hoped she would never return to._

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Rated T for reader's discretion. Might contain language and dark moments.

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 **Chapter 1:** The Time Traveler's Granddaughter

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"Sam, where are you?"

A ten-year-old-girl that huddled in the corner of costume closet curled into herself, bringing her knees close to her small body and her hands over her head, clutching her natural short platinum blonde locks in shaking fists. Her crystal blue eyes were red from silent crying. She prayed for the cruel old man to go away. She was more scared of him than she was of the uncanny horror masks that sneered at her as they hung from the coat hangers on strings. Masks were harmless; the old man was not.

* * *

Her full name was Samantha Lynn Neweyes and she was born on June 28th, 1978. After a tragic accident that had claimed her father in an auto catastrophe a few months ago and her mother passing away from an illness while she was still a baby, she was left an orphan in the care of her psychotic great-uncle. Normally, she would have been adopted by her grandfather- but for some odd reason, he had vanished off the face of the earth about two years ago. No one knew where he was. As she had no other living relatives, she was dumped on her great-uncle's doorstep.

She recalled being appalled by his appearance when he first came to the foster home. His right eye was missing, and in its place was a large metallic screw. It gave him the name that he preferred to go by; Professor Screweyes. His organic eye was no better. It glared down at her with disdain; deeming her unworthy of his precious time. It was perfectly clear that he did not want her, and to be honest, Sam didn't want him to take her either. She had willed him to turn around and leave, but to her astonishment- he sat down to fill out the paperwork, officially claiming her as his ward. Claiming her as a piece of property.

Sam did not know what to expect from her new life. Her father never had a good opinion of the professor, therefore hardly ever brought him up in conversation. What she _DEFINITELY did not_ expect was that he was the ringmaster of a circus. She expected some sort of home, but not that she would live with a traveling performing group in a collaboration of tents and trailers. The circus wasn't a typical circus either. It did not contain beautiful ballerinas nor charismatic fire eaters. There was no jolly music, friendly clowns, nor was there bright colors. The park was dark and dreary, seemingly haunted- and eerily empty despite having a few actors dressed up as ghouls walking around.

Chills crawled up Sam's spine as she dragged her Hello Kitty briefcase behind her, avoiding any of the unfriendly glances sent her way by an occasional passerby. While she did appreciate Halloween for what it was, the girl did not like being scared. That was the reason why she always went as Cinderella or Pikachu, instead of a vampire or Wednesday Addams when trick-or-treating. She also always avoided the haunted houses. Besides, Halloween only occurred annually... This sort of circus was open all year round.

After showing her to a small tent, Professor Screweyes handed her a dusty old sleeping bag before informing her that dinner would be served in an hour. Timidly, Sam asked when she would be allowed to attend school.

"We are a traveling performing group," the professor snidely answered as if speaking to an idiot. "There is no point of you going to school. You shall do all your studies here." With that he left her tent and proceeded to ignore her for the rest of the week. That was how Sam liked it. No one happened to bother her as they were too busy rehearsing for the next show.

Sam used that time to explore the capital of New York and spend time in the public library reading and going over school textbooks that were assigned to her. Her favorite place however, was the Museum of Natural History. The old lady, Dr. Bleeb, that worked there welcomed her with open arms, allowing her free admission for reasons that Sam did not know. It seemed like the lady knew her but did not explain how.

The girl of course wished that she could go to school. Often when she passed through the park on her way 'home', she could see kids her age laughing and running around with colorful backpacks strapped around their shoulders. Sam desired more than anything to make friends too. Unfortunately, making friends became the least of her worries.

A few weeks later, her great uncle suddenly began to show interest in her after finding out that she did not handle fear well. Sam became the poor guinea pig to fuel his horrific inspirations for his circus shows. He tormented her every night with scares. Eventually, Sam couldn't climb into her sleeping bag without checking it thoroughly for snakes and spiders. Sleeping nearly became impossible as ghastly shadows clawed at her tent, whispering horribly that they were going to get her and cackling cruelly at her frightened cries. She tried to drown them out by placing her hands over her ears and shutting her eyes. The girl constantly consoled herself by repeating to herself that it was just the performers playing tricks on her. That there was no real danger.

Every morning, Sam was exhausted with dark circles under her red eyes. Eventually it came to a point when it was too much. She had to run away.

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Pressing her ear to the closet door, Sam could hear that her great-uncle's footsteps were fading away. Eventually she could hear him leaving the trailer and she let out a sigh of relief. Reaching for her pink Hello Kitty briefcase that held all of her belongings, she slowly creaked the door open. She peeked through the crack, making sure that she was alone. When Sam didn't sense any signs of life in here with her, she pushed the door open further and cautiously creeped out. There was no noise aside from the ticking of a clock that read 8:45 pm. She had to make this escape work.

Sam made her way to the exit door and slowly opened it. It was deathly silent and the cold autumn air howled ominously. Gulping heavily, the girl stepped outside, not bothering to close the door. She quickly raced across the circus grounds, her black ballet flats slapping against the the pavement. She didn't get far when a bright light shone in her face, blinding her temporarily. Sam gasped and blocked the light out of her eyes with her hand before hearing someone shout.

"There she is!"

Without wasting a second, Sam continued to run; her heart swelling in fear. She could hear the sounds of feet running after her and terrifying shrieks of laughter as she was chased. A scream was lost in her throat as black clawed hands grabbed at her from the front. She dodged the person and scurried around them.

"Come back, sweetheart! We won't hurt you!" A mocking voice called out behind her, but she ignored it. She was just about out of the circus grounds and in the forested park when her hand was tugged backwards and she whirled around to see that one of the circus performers had gripped her briefcase.

"Let go!" she tried to pull her briefcase free from their grasp but the performer sniggered, his heavily tattooed/pierced face made him more monstrous than if he wore a mask.

"You're not going anywhere," he hissed with a perverse grin. With a sharp tug, the briefcase split open- spilling out all of Sam's clothes and books. At the same time, Sam had let go of it, causing the man to fall backwards onto the ground with a shout.

Abandoning her items, Sam ran into the park. She didn't dare look back.

The tattooed man growled and was about to follow after her with his lackeys when a voice stopped him.

"Let her go."

The man looked behind him to see the tall and thin figure of Professor Screweyes who fingered his cane lightly.

"But- sir!"

"She'll be back," the old man said calmly, not looking at all fazed that his ward escaped him. He took the top hat that was tucked away in his arm and placed it on top of his head. "There's no place for her to go. Now go back to rehearsing! The next show opens in a week's time." He turned on his heel and walked back towards the main tent with a disgusting smile, showing his missing teeth. "Everything that belongs to me returns eventually."

* * *

Gasping for air, Sam continued to run until she had no idea where she was. Her sides were cramping heavily from running for too long but she was too scared to stop. Suddenly, her foot was snagged by a protruding root and she was sent flying forwards with a cry. The ground before her disappeared and she tumbled down a large hill. Sam tried to skid to stop, but gravity had her rolling out of control. Twigs, rocks and brambles tore at her skin and clothes as she fell. Her hand reached out to grab onto a branch, but it snapped with a crack. She came to a stop at the bottom and she just laid there on her side, sobbing. Sam let all her frustration, pain and fear out all at once in muffled screams and bitter tears. Her father shouldn't have died and left her with that insane man! She should be at home right now in her warm bed with her father tucking her in and kissing her goodnight.

"I wish you were here, papa!" She choked out, sniffing heavily and rubbing her eyes with her dirtied and scratched up hands. "Take me home! I want to go home, papa!" She knew it was pointless to call out for him. He was gone and buried, but It did not change the fact that she wanted to feel his protective arms around her once more.

After a few moments of her crying, something in the air began to rumble and the trees began to groan and sway as a sudden wind began to blow over them. Startled, Sam jerked her head upwards to the sky; her eyes widening. A glow shined through the tree tops and lights scanned the ground as if searching for something. At first, Sam thought that it was a helicopter, but as it neared- she realized that it was something that resembled more of a spaceship. A giant metallic bronze space ship with massive wings!

Sam wasn't sure if she was scared or amazed of this giant contraption, but really- the sight of the ship was far more incredible than she had ever seen before. The flying machine hissed as it slowed in for the landing, letting out steam as it neared the ground. It didn't touch the floor however and simply hovered in place before it's bottom opened up, with a warm yellow light coming from inside.

Sam stood up and brushed herself off, barely registering the mess she was in; her hair disarranged and her leggings torn. Her face and hands were completely covered in scratches while her right knee was bleeding. All she could focus on was a figure of a human man floating down to the ground on a giant platform. She stayed still as he walked off and walked over to her with something flying over his shoulder. The girl narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a glimpse at his features since the light from behind him shaded his front. When he was a few feet away from her, he stopped and Sam finally had a good look at him.

He was a short old man with a strange little, green martian-like creature buzzing next to him with a propeller on it's back. The man was balding on the sides and had a fluffy white mustache beneath his nose. His brown eyes were warm and open, crinkling at the sides as his mouth rose into a sad smile. "I heard your wish, Samantha. I'm afraid that I cannot bring your father back to life, but I can offer you a home if you allow it." He gently reached out his hand and brushed the leaves out of her hair. He reached into his pocket, bringing out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

Sam gratefully took it, feeling as if she knew who person was. He looked so familiar and so kind. If only she could remember where she had saw him before...Sam wiped her tears away and blew her nose into the handkerchief.

"I can see that my brother has done a poor job of looking after you."

Sam's jaw was slack as she recognized this elderly gentleman from her family photo albums. "Grandpa?" she breathed out in disbelief. "But you disappeared! I thought… I don't…"

The man nodded, "I know that you probably have a lot of questions and I shall answer them all accordingly once we get you fixed up" he held out a hand to her. "I understand if you don't want to, but would you be alright with living with me? A time traveling machine may not be the best suitable home to grow up in, but-..."

Sam spent no time in accepting her grandfather's hand and held it tightly, not wanting to let go. "I'll go. Please let me come with you!"

That settled Sam's life for the next five years.

Her life was nothing short of incredible. Her grandfather, Captain Neweyes, took her throughout all of Earth's history and future. Sam had visited China's Han dynasty and shook hands with Elvis. She had watched _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_ on it's opening night and met the big man himself, Walt Disney. She learned the joy that came with WiFi and the iPod. And most of all, she did not have to wait for the next release of a movie or a book.

She had learned that the reason that her grandfather disappeared was because he believed that his genius gift of invention and technology was meant for good, and he could not use it to his full potential if he stayed home with his son and granddaughter. The world was just not ready for a flying time machine. He had also invented something that was called the 'Wish Radio' that allowed him to hear the deepest and earnest wishes of all the children in the world. It was how he had managed to find her in the first place.

While Sam simply enjoyed her new life and even helped her grandfather out with answering wishes, she couldn't help but feel like she was missing out on a normal pre-teen life. As strange as it may have seemed to any kid, Sam _wanted_ to go to school. She did not have the luxury of making friends her age, and so far- the only friend that she had was Vorb, the little martian in a spacesuit that assisted her grandfather.

As a consequence, Sam indulged in making fictional friends that she read up in books. Finding peace of mind in their pages, she easily forgot about what she wanted. Eventually, by the time that she had turned thirteen, Sam no longer had the desire to have friends. As she watched other children in the real world, she had began to feel a bitterness start to form in her heart that grew into resentment. At first she was confused about why she felt that way, but it soon became clear.

Family.

Every time, she would see the kids run up to their parents and be greeted with a warm embrace. If she managed to make a friend, she would be in constant reminder of what she no longer had. The only relatives that she had now were her grandfather and her estranged great-uncle. While she loved her grandfather, he was constantly too busy to pay much attention to her. Her only real company was that little green alien...and honestly, she could never figure out where her grandfather managed to find him. For some reason her grandpa had created the odd plan of bringing dinosaurs back to modern times. A rather eyebrow-raising idea according to Sam. She always believed that dinosaurs went extinct for a reason and that suddenly thrusting them into the world of humans was a rather dumb idea. But she shrugged it off and went back to her business.

She wanted a parent around. More specifically- she wanted...

'Dad...' Fifteen-year-old Sam shook her head and frowned as she glared deeper into the book that she was holding. 'No, stop it Samantha,' she chastised herself. 'That's the one wish you cannot have granted.' She concentrated on her book and felt herself relax on her bed as she followed the adventures of one little bat who was determined to find the father that he had thought that was long dead. Sam related to him so much. If only she could wake up one day to have her grandfather break the news that her father never died, but was out there somewhere.

Suddenly the door to her large steam-punk-like room burst open and she looked up from the book in surprise. "Vorb?"

The little alien buzzed into the room, hyper as ever. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! We've arrived in the Cretaceous Montana. It's time to go-go-go!" He zoomed around her head, annoying the girl.

"Can't you at least knock first?" Sam scowled and grabbed a nearby pillow before swatting at him with it. "I was in the middle of a good book!"

"Whoa! Incoming giant marshmallow!" Vorb dodged the pillow before peering down at the book that Sam was holding curiously before his eyes lit up in recognition, "isn't this the fifty sixth time you've read that?"

"What's it to ya?" Sam made a face before burying it back into the book. She hardly got a sentence done when the book was torn out of her hands. "Wha- hey!" She sat up and grabbed at the book that was now in Vorb's possession but he pulled it out of her reach. "Give that back!"

He whistled as he waved the book teasingly in her face, constantly moving out of the way when she made a grab for it, causing her to topple over the edge of her bed with a surprised shout. "Stop slacking, Sam! We've got a job to do!" Vorb dropped the open book onto her head. "And you've promised to do the next one."

"What is it now?" Sam grunted as she sat up, the book sliding off her head and onto the floor. "We already have a triceratops, a pterodactyl and a para-...para...parasa-"

"Parasaurolophus," Vorb said helpfully. "And I've caught all three of them, myself!"

"Yeah, that," the light blonde tossed her waist-length hair over her shoulder before picking up her book and placing it back in it's place in the bookshelf. "What else do we need? An ankylosaur? Saurolophus?"

Vorb smiled, "a T. Rex!"

* * *

 **A/N** : A new fanfic? I must be out of my mind! But I'm already insane as it is, so I suppose it doesn't matter. This story follows the movie, so if you don't like stuff like that or OC's- here's the cue for you to find something else to read. This fanfic is something that is more personal to me as I have grown up with this movie. And also, this is also a tribute to James Horner who composed the soundtrack for this strange yet underrated film. R.I.P James, you will forever be my favorite film score composer.

I am aware of how unpopular this movie is due to its somewhat sloppy story, but-... I am willing to make it somewhat better. :) Besides, it has one of the freakiest villains out there.

Oh and if you're wondering what book Sam was reading, it's the second novel in the _Silverwing_ trilogy by Kenneth Oppel. Just a callback to another fanfic I'm writing.

Enjoy, my friends! Enjoy.


	2. That Stupid Boat Song

**I'm Back: Sam's Story**

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 **Chapter 2** : That Stupid Boat Song

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Sam was hyperventilating. How did she get roped into this?!

"I am just a fifteen-year-old...with a tranquilizer gun strapped around her shoulder... roaming about in the late Cretaceous period," she muttered to herself nervously as she trudged through a dense wet forest, brushing aside the shrubbery that got in her way. "What could possibly go wrong?"

Out of all things, she had to be hunting down an extinct dinosaur, and it couldn't have been a harmless plant-eating dinosaur, oh no! It had to be a full grown, flesh-eating, titanic Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Her boot sank into the mud and she nearly tripped over herself as it got stuck. "Ugh!" she cursed under her breath as she sat aside her gun to pull her foot out with a loud 'pop!' And of course, she had to look for a in a swamp. She could only imagine how well that would turn out if she had to run for her life. She continued to grumble to herself until squawks of alarm came from overhead. Sam looked up to see a flock of small feathered microraptors seemingly flying for their lives before it all went silent. Too silent- and that was never a good sign.

Sam fought the urge to turn back and continued forward. The longer she walked, the more quiet the swampy forest became. That was until she finally heard rustling and ripping noises ahead. That and there was a heavy scent of blood in the air- all which made Sam's stomach tighten. She could only hope that she wouldn't lose her breakfast from this morning. Whatever it was, it was behind the giant boulder. Carefully, and as quietly as she could, Sam shifted her gun so it hung across her back and began to climb. Her foot slipped once, but luckily she had a good grip on her tongue and on the stone. She heard a grumble behind the large rock and she held her breath, feeling sweat trickle down her back. The sounds of bones snapping continued and she slowly let the wind out of her lungs. She continued to climb upwards until she was laying on top of the boulder, belly down. What was before her made her face turn slightly green and the bile to rise to her throat.

It was a dinosaur carcass… as to what type it was, Sam didn't know for it was eaten to the point of unrecognizability. Red stringy flesh hung off the ribs and by the smell of it, it was laying there for a while- with flies and insects swarming around it. But that wasn't what bothered Sam...no, that was the least of her concerns. What was however...was the enormous Tyrannosaurus Rex that was standing with his back to her a good couple yards away from where she was laying. He (well, at least Sam thought it was a he) had magnificent orange scales that shone when the setting sunlight hit them. He had four dark stripes that ran horizontally across his back, giving him somewhat of an impression of a tiger. The growled as he shook his head violently as he gripped the carcass with his immense jaws and held it down with his small arms. With a sickening crack, he tore a meaty rib off. Sam could only watch in horrified amazement as the great lizard bit through the bone without much effort.

It took a few minutes for Sam to remember what she was doing here and shakily reached for her gun. " _Row, row, row your boat…_ " she sang quietly to herself as a way to calm her nerves, she laid the gun in front of her before she jumbled around for one of her tranquilizer darts. " _Gently down the stream…"_ Just one of these could send an elephant to his knees within a few minutes. " _Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream…"_ With unsteady fingers she pulled out two darts and attempted to load her gun but she lost her grip and the darts slipped out and rolled down the boulder.

' _No!_ ' She hastily reached out to try and grab them, but they fell out of reach- and with the way she was hunched over, the rest of her tranquilizer darts spilled out of her dart pouch as well. They fell into the swampy water noisily, earning her the undivided attention of a hungry tyrannosaur. Her breath was caught inside her throat as she froze in place, her hand still reached outwards. She could see herself reflected in the giant's dark, animalistic green eyes. Blood was smeared across his muzzle. His mouth curled open as he snarled aggressively, showing his glimmering, blood-stained teeth.

Sam really hoped that this dinosaur's eye-sight was based on movement like in the _Jurassic Park_ lore. But when the monster turned to face her and gave a deafening roar, that hope flew right out the window. Sam screamed and scrambled backwards until she slid off the boulder, right when his jaws snapped down at the rock where she was laying on. She slipped into the muddy water on her rear-end, muddying her blue overalls before scrambling to her feet and running for her life.

Angered and clearly in pain from biting a rock, the T. Rex roared, rearing his mighty head upward. He tried to find a way around the boulder to follow after Sam, but large palm trees barred his way. Looking back and seeing that he was stuck behind the trees, the girl gave a smile of relief and slightly slowed down to a jog. ' _Ha! He ain't so smart after all.'_ The T. Rex hissed before turning and walking away, causing Sam to stop to catch her breath. "That wasn't... _so_ bad," she huffed with her hands on her knees.

A growl came from behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see the T. Rex charge headfirst into the trees, breaking them in half!

Her face fell, "I stand corrected…" she said weakly and screamed as the dinosaur charged after her. Sam maneuvered herself around the trees, trying to use the plant life as an advantage. But no matter what she tried, the T. Rex did not lose sight of her. The earth shook beneath his feet, causing smaller dinosaur's to flee as Sam ran past them. Realizing that the was gaining on her fast, she slid down beneath the roots of a large tree to try and hide- and just in time too, as the creature snapped his teeth onto one of the roots, barely missing her. Sam was waist deep in the murky water as she sat there, trying to scoot backwards as far away from the T. Rex as she could while he roared.

Neither she nor the T. Rex noticed the oncoming flying machine that was descending from the sky from behind them.

The T. Rex bit and tore at the roots that were sheltering Sam until she was completely unprotected. Sam gave a sharp scream as the large dinosaur managed to grab her overall straps on her back as she tried to turn and run and she hung from his mouth as he lifted her up from the swamp. The girl kicked uselessly with her feet while screaming. With unexpected luck, the bottom time-machine struck the monster's head, causing it to jerk backwards with a metallic clank. At that moment, the dinosaur was stunned enough to drop Sam back into the marsh before collapsing next to her.

Sam quickly scrambled to her feet, splashing all the way as she raced after the time-machine as it began to land. She heard the roar behind her and she yelled at the top of her lungs, " _VORB!_ Get me out of here!" The earth shook beneath her feet and she tripped. She looked over her shoulder to see the T. Rex looming over her. She screamed and covered her head with her arms as the dinosaur was about to kill her when the door beneath the machine opened and the tiny green martian zoomed out in front of the creature's eyes, startling him enough to make him rear his head back.

"Aha! A potential customer!" Vorb chirped and waved a tiny box of cereal ' _Brain Grain_ ' in his hands. "Good work, Sam! Golly good job!"

"Vorb…" Sam breathed out as he stalled the . She wasn't sure if she felt grateful that he came to her rescue or if she was furious at him for making her go after a .

The martian whistled before greeting the confused animal, "hello madame! Oh- I mean, sir!" he gave a jolly laugh as the dinosaur growled, "this is your lucky day!" He began to talk a mile a minute as the girl tried to quietly slip away. "Through a lengthy process of random selection, your galaxy, your planet, your neighborhood, hold on to your tail now, kiddo! You-"

The foot of the T. Rex stomped down at Vorb who barely dodged out of the way.

"Yes! You have been chosen as the beneficiary-"

The jaws chomped at the martian who dodged again.

"- of a promotional campaign!"

"Vorb!" Sam shouted at him from under the machine. "Forget the pleasantries and lets go!"

"Manners, sister- I haven't even gotten to the best part yet," Vorb scolded before dodging the T. Rex's teeth again and did a boxing motion with his arms at the dinosaur before continuing cheerfully. "Here, before your very eyes, I have a product."

 _CHOMP!_

Vorb gulped nervously as he dodged another set of teeth and began to fly backwards towards the machine and Sam all the while continuing his annoying propaganda. "A revolutionary product. You haven't tasted stuff like this before. Brain Grain cereal!" He laughed as he poured some of it into his hand, spilling most of it. "Take one bite, you'll have an idea," he zoomed backwards even further, causing the dinosaur to follow after him until he was right under the glowing entrance- to Sam's dismay. "Take two bites, you'll have a hypothesis. You'll be smart! Comes in two flavors, regular or nutty-nut!"

"Vorb- enough! Let's get out of here! He doesn't understand a word you're saying!" Sam shouted harshly to Vorb.

"We'll be fine! And he'll understand soon enough," Vorb reassured her carelessly, which only made her freak out even more. "Choose your poison, partner. You're gonna love this!" he told the as a pile of cereal boxes were dropped in front of them. "Yes, sirree bob!"

Sam shrieked as the T. Rex snapped at them, but they moved out of the way, causing the reptile to only swallow the cereal boxes- causing the contents to fly everywhere.

"Remember your manners, you big-mouthed, jaw-dropping carnivore!" Vorb glared down at the dinosaur as he continued to fly out from the way of the sharp teeth that kept aiming for him, finally getting peeved. He screamed as the T. Rex snapped at him again before grabbing Sam by the straps of her overalls. "That's it! I'm irritated. We're going back to the ship!" And with unexpected strength for a little guy barely larger than her head, he pulled her up into the ship- earning a sharp yelp from her.

The carnivore stuck his head in after them and missed Sam's legs when the circular door closed shut around his neck, immobilizing the dinosaur. Automatically, the gadgets and gizmos began to click and come to life in the ship as two robotic hands sprung from the ceiling and forced the T. Rex's jaws apart before shoving a spiral steel tube into his mouth. It was almost painful to watch as the dinosaur was force fed the Brain Grain cereal.

"Ha ha! Lunch time!" Vorb cheered as he placed Sam down safely on a platform above the scene. The girl desperately clutched at the rails of the platform as she tried to shake off the remains of adrenaline that still rocked her body. She could barely believe that she was still alive! She watched with heaving breaths as the dinosaur desperately tried to shake head out of the machine's hold until the two hands finally let go of his snout.

The T. Rex, visibly rattled and confused, questionably chewed the remains of cereal in his mouth as if trying to taste it for the first time before snarling and spitting them out.

"Doesn't this constitute as animal abuse?" Sam glanced at the alien wearily after she dodged dino spit and wet pieces of cereal.

"He nearly had you for tonight's menu and you're worried about extinct animal rights?" Vorb gave her an odd stare.

"He's not extinct _yet_ ," Sam corrected him.

" _Pffft!_ " Vorb blew out his tongue while rolling his eyes. "Technicalities. Trust me, sister. He's getting exactly what the doctor ordered. He'll be thanking us later."

Sam wrinkled her nose in uncertainty but didn't say anything. After all- the rest of the dinosaur company seemed to be content with their new lives. As they were talking, Sam noticed that the growls and snarls that the T. Rex was producing were beginning to lose their ferocity and she looked back down at him. He seemed to be calming down though still lost on what was happening around him. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head as changes were suddenly began to take form in him.

Then- POP!

Sam blinked as the dinosaur's eyes widened and came closer together on his head, giving him a more self-aware appearance. He lost the wild green in his eyes and his slitted pupils became small and rounded. He grunted when his sharply squared head lost it's edge, making him look more softer. His teeth were still sharp, though they visibly became blunted. That was when he began to speak his first his words…

"Row…"

Sam stood up straighter, feeling the danger pass. Row? That was a strange first word.

"-your boat," the T. Rex continued, causing her eyes to widen. His face spasmed again as his carnivorous form continued to alter, " _gently down the.._.uh… _?_ "

"Stream?" Sam rested her cheek on her fist, leaning against the railing; her voice was completely void of any enthusiasm. She was more than willing to bet that he had heard her singing that song while she was in the midst of trying to tranquilize him.

"Stream, yes… that's right," the dinosaur agreed while heavily concentrating on remembering the lyrics. He started over, " _row, row, row your boat-_ "

Vorb chuckled, "what a personality! Looks like you'll get along just fine with this big guy," he nudged Sam with his arm. "You'll be the best of pals!"

Sam's mouth curled downwards in disapproval. "I don't need any pals," she said with distaste.

"That's right, you've got me!" Vorb laughed. "But don't let me hog all of your attention."

"Ever thought that maybe your questionable methods of 'being pals' is why I don't want any?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

Vorb batted his wide eyes at her, trying to look innocent, "like what?"

"Like teaching me how to swim by shoving me into the deep end? Or like the time when you ate all the peanut butter and had me take the blame? Oh wait, let me use a more recent example; _by having me go after a raging T. Rex?!_ "

Vorb sucked in his lips as he sheepishly shifted his eyes back and forth. "You promised that you'd take the next dino job."

"A FREAKING T. REX, VORB!" Sam exclaimed at the top of her lungs, completely ignoring the singing dinosaur below them. "You had to send me after a meat-eating, teeth gnashing, T. Rex!" she pointed wildly down at their newest addition.

Vorb shrugged, not at all fazed by her ranting, "we needed variety."

"A T. Rex?!"

Vorb rolled his eyes with annoyance and whistled, "Jeeze Louise, sister. Cool your jets will ya? You'll scare away the new guy! Who, by-the-way… probably needs a little bit more grain in his brain." He flew down towards the dinosaur who finally managed to sing the entire song without fail. "How about it, eh?" the martian chuckled as he held up another box of cereal in front of the T. Rex, "Want some lunch?"

The T. Rex slurped his chops with excitement before snapping his jaws closed over the unsuspecting martian causing him to shriek and struggle furiously to get out of his mouth while shouting inaudible orders for the dinosaur to let him out.

Actually, Sam was almost certain that the tyrannosaur was going to swallow the little guy until one robotic arm smacked him upside the head, forcing Vorb out of his mouth. The hand shook a scolding finger at the dinosaur who simply stared back at it dumbly. "Lunch?" he blurt out loudly. "What's lunch?"

Sam smacked a palm to her forehead, making a slapping sound echo throughout the chamber. Honestly, she couldn't tell if they made the dinosaur smarter or had him de-evolve. At any rate, he would probably need a few more hundred boxes of Brain Grain before he was ready to join up with the rest of the dinosaurs. "Well, I'll leave you to it," she waved dismissively to a seething Vorb before turning around to leave.

"Wait!" Suddenly Vorb was in her face, glaring at her. "You can't just abandon the job!"

"What job? I led the here didn't I?" Sam returned his glare with a challenge. "I'm done!"

Vorb tsked and and shook his head, "that's only half of the deal, Sammy. Someone has to show him the ropes of this place and perhaps teach him some manners." He glared over her shoulder at the reptile, showing his grudge against the animal.

Sam winced and looked back despairingly at the T. Rex who was eyeing them with childlike curiosity. "Do I have to?" she whined.

""You. Prom. Ised," Vorb stressed in aggravating syllables.

Sam sighed, feeling her resolve waver. If there was one thing she was not tempted to do, it was to babysit some dumb dinosaur. Yet- a promise was a promise, and Sam never went back on her word, no matter what it was. "Fine," she groaned, averting her eyes away from the smug martian.

"Thatta girly," Vorb noogied her head with satisfaction. "Well, I'll see you back in the main hall! Have fun you two!" he then zoomed away, leaving Sam alone with a T. Rex, his head still stuck in the floor of the ship. He had a goofy smile on his face, not at all perturbed of the position he was in. There was an awkward silence as Sam had no idea where to start. She eventually decided to start at the very beginning.

"Ummm...hi."

* * *

 **A/N:** Wow! Thanks for the reviews guys! To be honest, I wasn't expecting any since this particular fandom is very small. So four reviews is a big high five in my face. xD I hope you guys are liking Sam as a character so far. She's not the most cheerful or friendliest of my characters, but considering her background and Vorb's unhelpful influence, she's bound to have some teenage angst here and there. If anything, it makes me excited to see how Rex and the rest of the dinosaurs will help her mature and open up to them.

 **Guest Melissa & Alejandra: **Ahhh! :D I was not expecting to see you guys here in this story section! It makes me incredibly happy to see familiar readers. Yeah, Prof. Screweyes is a pile of poop. He's going to be pretty annoyed to see that she had disappeared off the face of the earth. xD Thank you guys so much for reviewing!

 **ReginaDC21:** Yeah, at first I thought I was making Professor Screweyes too much of an asshole, but then I remembered that he would willingly enslave children with Faustian blood contracts to benefit his circus business. Yup, he's definitely insane. It probably would be satisfying to have Rex eat him, but then we wouldn't get that rather terrifying death he receives in the end. Good movie. Thanks for the review! :)

 **Houdini33:** Hahahaha! Yeah, it is a great movie. :) It's flawed but it's a childhood classic that I cannot replace. I'm so glad that you are enjoying my fic so far! Thanks! :D


	3. Rex

**We're Back: Sam's Story**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** Rex

* * *

Sam named him Rex.

It was a very generic name...something one could name a dog. He even had the gold 'collar' to prove it. Feeling rather duped and moody, Sam didn't really care of the lack of creativity in naming the tyrannosaur. In fact, she was moping and doping the entire time she gave Rex a tour of the ship. His childlike enthusiasm and curiosity only made it worse. It didn't help that Rex immediately decided that he liked Sam and insisted on following her around like a baby bird imprinting on the first thing it sees.

...A rather large baby bird who had to be careful not to step on her, which he almost did- twice.

"Watch it!" Sam snapped as his foot barely sidestepped around her. "What did I tell you? Stay at least ten feet away from me."

"Oh- um… sorry," Rex apologized with a guilty smile and walked backwards ten steps.

Sam sighed and facepalmed at the incredible distance that was formed between them. "No! I meant ten _human_ feet," she muttered to herself before cupping her hands around her mouth to shout at him from across the hall. "Forget what I just said, just get over here and don't step on me!" She flinched as he quickly walked back over to her, feeling the floor shake beneath his weight.

He stopped a reasonable distance away and smiled, "is this good?"

"Yeah, that's perfect. Let's keep it that way, shall we?" The girl eyed him warily. Sam turned around and continued leading the way.

"So, where are we going?" Rex asked with slight hesitation as he followed after her with steps that felt exaggeratedly slow for him. Sam's prickly mood did not go unnoticed by him and he truly felt like he was walking on eggshells around her. He could tell that his company was one that she did not want to have and he was getting a hunch that it had to have something to do with him wanting to eat her a few hours ago.

"To meet others like you," Sam replied blandly.

"Like me?"

"Yeah. Large, scaly and cold-blooded."

"Cold-blooded?" Rex blinked at the harsh way she answered him. He quirked his mouth into a smile and tried to lighten the mood, "I think I'm more of a big, warm, and huggable type."

Sam peered over her shoulder at him, "yeah. I noticed."

Rex's smile fell at her bitter tone. There was a barrier surrounding her and she was intent on keeping him out. He opened his mouth to try again but Sam interrupted him.

"In here," she motioned with her arms at a beautifully crafted golden elevator. He carefully walked inside before Sam came in after him. She pulled out a remote out of her pocket and pressed a button, causing the contraption to start to rise. Rex jerked in surprise, nearly knocking his tail against the girl. "Careful!" Sam exclaimed as she teetered near the edge. She wrapped her arms around one of the four pillars holding the elevator together, "don't knock me off! This thing doesn't have walls you know!"

"Sorry," Rex winced. He backed up to give her some more room, but Sam didn't move from her spot holding onto the pillar. She didn't even look up at him.

When they finally reached the top floor, Vorb was there to greet them. "Hiya! How's it going?"

"Swell…" the girl hissed through pursed lips.

Vorb floated next to Rex's head and asked quietly, "how's Sammy treating ya?"

"I don't think she likes me," Rex replied just as quietly, his eyes darting over to her to make sure she wasn't overhearing him.

The martian barked out a laugh, "Sam doesn't like anyone, not even little ol' me. The only things she likes are her dusty books and the Captain."

"The Captain?"

"You'll meet him soon enough," Vorb shrugged off Rex's question, as if suddenly bored of the conversation. "Hey- if you want friends, why don'tcha check out the other 'brain grain' graduates? I've gotta report to Captain Neweyes!"

Rex looked across the room to see three other dinosaurs lounging leisurely on a suspended platform, eating hotdogs around a makeshift fireplace that looked like a giant lava lamp. Knowing how coldly Sam responded to him, Rex suddenly was filled with nervous anxiety. What if the others were to treat him the same way? He backed away from the elevator's exit, his body curling downwards as if to make himself as small as possible.

"Get social!" Vorb pushed Rex out of the elevator none too gently and left.

The dinosaurs' eyes turned to Rex who shuffled uncomfortably under their scrutiny. He smiled toothily, trying to conceal his shyness. He clasped his tiny arms together, "hi everybody!" he greeted awkwardly. He grabbed at the gold medallion around his neck and began to read it out loud as if it were a written speech. "Yer … nee uh nyum my," he blinked in confusion.

"You're holding it upside down, smart guy," Sam elbowed his leg as she made her way over to him.

"Oh…" Embarrassed, Rex quickly turned it over and tried again, "my name … is … Rex!" He was surprised to realize that he could understand the words. "Hey! How did I do that?!" he asked as they walked over to the rest of the company, Rex's nervousness overruled by excitement.

"The magic of 'brain grain' cereal. Don't ask me how it works," Sam replied. "Apparently it allows herbivores to even digest meat…"

The female pterosaur with purple scales stood on a large bird perch, chuckled and fluttered her long eyelashes at Rex. "I'm Elsa," she introduced herself- flinging her hotdog away carelessly and pressed herself against him. "Enchanted and delighted to make your acquaintance, Rex." She let out a flirty laugh, "oh! pardon my wingspan, won't you please?"

Stiff and completely unsure how to handle himself in this uncomfortable situation, Rex nodded and cleared out his throat. "Yeah, okay."

Sam rolled her eyes, "cut it out, Elsa. You're freaking the new guy out."

Elsa gave a delighted squawk at the sight of Sam, "oh! Samantha, sweetheart! I have been wondering when you'd come to visit!" she flapped her large wings, nearly smacking Rex in the face.

Before she could prepare herself, the girl found herself wrapped in the embrace of the winged reptile. "E-Elsa! Ever heard of personal space!?" she stuttered, flustered by Elsa's affections.

Elsa laughed and let go of Sam, "forgive me, dear. I'm just so happy to see you. How have you been? I simply have been worried sick-"

The blue triceratops with sausages stuck in his horns nudged Rex as Elsa continued to chatter and fuss over Sam. "There she goes again. Maternal instinct. Be grateful that it's stronger than all of her other instincts," he winked suggestively at the larger dinosaur. "Careful, I think she has taken a shine to you."

"Huh? Oh- um … alright?"

Noticing Rex's confusion, the dinosaur smiled, "I'm Woog, by the way. You want a hotdog?" He held up three fat sausages in his left hand and a green parasaurolophus opened his mouth to chomp down on them. Woog didn't notice but moved the meat out of the way before it was eaten, earning an annoyed glare from his neighbor. "Or do you want a _hotdog_?" He offered them to Rex.

Rex gave them a loud sniff, accidentally sucking one into his nose. "Is it good?" he asked nasally, stunned for a moment.

"Is it good?!" Woog laughed at the question as Rex plucked the sausage out of his nose and hid it behind his back. "Words fail me. How many we had so far today, Dweeb?" he shook his neighbor's foot.

"Two hundred and fifty, and still in counting" the less intelligent looking dinosaur answered before glaring at Woog as the blue dinosaur took another large bite of a hotdog.

"Take it on faith, Rex. You want a hotdog." Woog hardly flinched when Dweeb squirted mustard on him.

"Hi, I'm Dweeb," the peeved dinosaur allowed himself to greet the newcomer. He squirted some of the yellow stuff onto his hotdog, "it's gotta have mustard on it," he muttered.

After smothering Sam like a mother hen, Elsa turned her attention back to Rex, "and don't forget Samantha's sauerkraut. I was _amazed_ by the sauerkraut."

"Elsa!" Sam felt her cheeks heat up from embarrassment.

"Come now, dear. You have a knack for cuisine," Elsa insisted, "it certainly has impressed me!"

"She laid an egg."

Elsa glared darkly at Woog, putting her hands on her hips. However her stern expression quickly dissolved as she joined in with his laughter. "I did!" she admitted to Rex with slight humiliation, "I laid an egg. I was so embarrassed."

"The most delicious omelette I have ever had," Sam quipped, her lips perked up at the corners in amusement.

Rex looked at the girl, slightly horrified. He didn't know what an omelette was, but he had a good idea what she meant.

"Oh, don't look so distraught, Rex," Elsa smiled at him, adding to the joke, "it was a dud." She chuckled before flying up to gaze into his eyes, "Rex, I feel like such a fool but I must say you are a rough and handsome fellow," she fluttered her lashes at him, causing Sam to snort. It probably was spring time for the reptilian bird. Poor Rex. Elsa giggled at his stunned expression, "forgive me, I'm so flighty."

Rex gave a nervous laugh and cleared his throat, dodging Elsa to go and sit with the others around the campfire. He was starting to understand what Woog meant by 'other instincts' and he sure didn't want to get caught up in that. He sat down with a loud thump and sniffed at the food, making Sam cringe as he did that.

"Smells good," he smiled and accepted the hotdog that Dweeb stretched out to him. He bit a piece off and his eyes widened in amazement, "ah! Hey! That's what I call _**luunnnnchhh!**_ " he practically roared the last word, causing the entire ship to shake and tremor.

Sam squeaked and fell unto her bum, fearful that the entire platform would collapse. Her hands were clenched into fists, knuckles turning white.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Elsa helped the girl up once Rex's rumbling echo dissipated, noticing the frightened look on her face.

"No! I'm not!" Sam roughly shoved Elsa away before smoothing out her clothes, as if trying to erase herself of Elsa's touch. Frustration tugged down her her eyebrows and shaped her mouth into a scowl. The stress of the day was finally getting to her. "I can't handle how obnoxiously loud you all are!" she yelled at them as their eyes went wide.

"Samantha, dear …" Elsa tried again, but Sam backed away. Whatever feeling of friendship that was there before quickly disappeared.

"I hate dinosaurs!" the words were out of her mouth before she could think. She pointed a finger at Rex, "especially you!" Sam ignored the shock that showed up on his face. She turned around and stormed off, leaving the four dinosaurs watching in stunned silence as she boarded the elevator and descended out of view.

The silence dragged on for a bit longer until Dweeb broke it. "'Lunch.' you used to call _me_ that."

"She hates me …" Rex breathed out, terribly crestfallen.

"Oh, Rex. Don't take her words to heart," Elsa turned to him with pitying eyes. "She doesn't hate you."

"But she said-"

"She says that she hates us _all the time_ ," Woog intercepted as he went back to eating as if nothing was wrong. "Don't take it too personally."

Rex didn't understand. "Why does she hate us?" he asked his new friends, still in shock.

Woog shrugged, "we're big."

"We're loud," Dweeb added.

"Have horrific table manners," the triceratops demonstrated his point by face planting into the hot dogs, and coming out with at least ten of them in his mouth.

"The thing is, Rex," Elsa began as she placed a comforting wing over his shoulder, ignoring the boys, "is that Samantha gets scared at times, and when she gets scared, she lashes out. It doesn't mean that she hates us, goodness no." Elsa was certain of this fact. She was after all, the first of them to be on this ship. She knew Sam better than the rest of them.

"She's scared of us? Me?" Rex looked down at his feet dejectedly. Who was he kidding. Of _course_ she was scared of him. Why wouldn't she be? The very first moment they met was when he was covered in the blood of his latest kill. He was already full from the meal, but after seeing the strange small creature, spread across that rock with terrified eyes baring into his, he wanted _more._ Food meant life and Rex was well aware of how hard it was to find anything to eat. Anything he could find was a blessing. And he was close. Ooh, he was _despicably_ close in succeeding to taste her. He remembered the way she dangled from his jaws by the straps. He remembered the way he longed to feel her bones snap between his teeth. He remembered her screams…

Rex shook his head, trying to shove those memories away. He felt incredibly sick to the stomach at what he had tried to do. At what he had done. He stared at the half-eaten hot dog in his clawed hand and suddenly didn't feel very hungry anymore. He looked up at the other dinosaurs before looking down again. He hunted them down before too, and now he was expecting them to be friends with them? How selfish could he be?

"Hey, I'm sorry the way I acted," Rex rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "I was a real animal."

Elsa landed on his shoulder and gave him a hug. "We all have regrets Rex," she said sadly.

"Tell me about it! The things I've stepped on!" Woog exclaimed, lifting up one leg as a demonstration. The other dinosaurs looked down at the bottom of his foot and flinched, seeing a flattened lizard glued to it with its tongue stuck out. The poor thing was still blinking!

Noticing the disturbed looks he was getting, Woog looked down and saw the lizard for the very first time. He quickly put his foot down again to hide it, only to stomp on it again, making a squishy noise. He grinned sheepishly before trying to scrape the thing off behind his back.

"Let's face it. We've evolved," Dweeb said, lightening the mood a bit.

Rex smiled a little before glancing over his shoulder to where the golden elevator was and his smile faded. He wanted to apologize to Sam. From the very first moment when his brain grew bigger in size and he gained the ability of speech, he wanted to become friends with the tiny human. He liked her voice. It was the first thing he actually _liked_ aside from eating. He remembered her singing and he desperately wanted to learn to sing her song too, so he imitated her. His first words ...

Rex wondered if she would forgive him. Rex clicked his claws together nervously.

"She'll forgive you too."

Rex's eyes widened and looked over to Elsa who watched him with a knowing smile.

"Samantha is a good girl. I love her as if she were my own chick. Give her a little time. She'll come through. She just needs to get used to you. I'm sure you two will be good friends in no time."

The tyrannosaur smiled at that. He would like that. He would like that a lot. After cheering up, Rex felt his appetite return and tossed the rest of the hotdog in his mouth. Yeah, couldn't wait to become Sam's friend.

After an hour, Vorb returned to collect the dinosaurs. "Everybody, up, up, up! The Captain will see you now!"

"Who is the Captain?" Rex questioned as they all stood up.

"He's Sam's grandfather," Dweeb told him.

"Oh." Suddenly, Rex felt nervous again. Somehow, he didn't think that the captain would take too kindly to him for almost eating his granddaughter.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hi guys! So sorry for the long wait. The thing is that this movie was taken off youtube and so I couldn't really continue. I also have this movie on vhs, but my mother is always hogging the telly. I had to find another place to watch it. So yeah, poor Rex. He just wants to be Sam's friend and Sam's too scared of him. This chapter also reminded me how flirtatious Elsa is, goodness! I love her though. Hahaha! Thank you for reviewing and favoriting!

 **Whiteling:** Yeah, poor Sam. It's going to take her a while to accept Rex.

 **Houdini33:** Eee! I'm so happy that you see this fanfic as your #1 in this fandom. I feel so special now. Hahaha!

 **Guest Melissa and Alejandra:** Yeah, Sam has it pretty rough. But she's loved and that's matters the most. She needs friends and family to care for her. After living with her great-uncle, she's going to have some trust issues. Oh, Elsa and Sam are really close. Sam won't admit it, but Elsa sure will.

 **Guest:** Thank you, dearie. I'll try to update more frequently, but I can't promise anything.

 **Carlisle Fan 22:** I love this movie, hahaha! It's understandably not popular, but I grew up loving it. I was a dinosaur-loving child.

 **Shadowgirl20:** Hi! I'm glad you are enjoying my fanfic so far. :) I'll keep posting more chapters, but I can't promise that they'll be frequent.

 **katmar1994:** Thank you! I'll update when I can. :)


	4. I Wish

**We're Back: Sam's Story**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** I Wish…

* * *

Captain Neweyes peered over his shoulder at Sam as she helped him water the plants in their garden. He could tell by the tension in her posture and displeased expression that she had another episode with their prehistoric guests. She just stood silently as she took care of the daffodils; another reason he knew that she was upset. Daffodils were _her_ flowers just like they were her father's. They helped calm her down.

Rubbing his chin, he began casually, "in the language of flowers- daffodils symbolize 'rebirth.'"

Sam glanced back at him before shrugging and looking away. "Is that right?"

"Indeed so. They are said to bring about new beginnings and good fortune." The Captain gently plucked a stray ladybug off a leaf, saving it from getting its wings wet. He allowed the little red insect to travel up his finger, moving his hand around to keep it on the upper side. "They remind us that life goes on and that we should let go of the burdens of the past," he gave her a meaningful look. "Otherwise we'll miss the blessings of the present."

Sam hummed in reply, but not making any indication that she cared.

He sighed, wanting to get through to his granddaughter somehow. She held onto the memory of her father in a vice-grip, and not in the healthy way. The loss of him had also made her lose the desire to have anyone else in her life. Neweyes couldn't help but believe that he was partially to blame for this. By taking her in and raising her himself had consequently isolated her from the world. She needed friends- and while Vorb was good company, he often stressed her out more than necessary.

"You know," he blinked- Sam's voice snapping him out of his thoughts and startling the ladybug off his finger. "You are right."

The Captain smiled.

"We should forget this project and take those dinosaurs back to their time."

His smile twitched slightly and he chuckled, shaking his head. Sam had completely missed the point.

"They are supposed to exist in the past. Who knows what chaos they'll send to world into if we mix them up with the human race."

"Not unless they follow my instructions and get to the Museum of Natural History," he said with a smile. "You will see, Samantha. They will bring so much happiness to the children."

"Like they ever made _me_ happy," Sam snorted and put down her watering can. She bent over the flowers and nudged one gently with her finger, watching a droplet shake itself off a yellow petal.

"You are scared of them." It wasn't a question. She hated this project from the moment they started.

Sam frowned and hugged herself as she kept kneeling before the flowerbed. "I don't like monsters."

Her grandfather turned slightly towards her, his eyes sorrowful. ' _Oh, brother of mine. What have you done?'_ He softly placed a hand over her shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Not anymore, they are not. They are sentient beings with feelings, just like you, sweetheart."

Sam didn't say anything, but her eyes wavered. Remembering what she had said back in the dino dining hall, guilt began to well up in her heart. She had said that she hated them, again. She remembered how shocked Rex looked- and yet, she could never bring herself to apologize.

"Wow…"

The two of them turned to see that the dinosaurs had finally arrived, standing in the elevator. It was Rex who had spoken as he gazed at the room in wonder. To him, it was like walking into another world entirely. He looked upwards, staring at the beautiful stained glass windows that decorated the walls and ceilings.

Captain Neweyes gave his granddaughter one final squeeze before he straightened up, grabbing a cup of his hot coffee from the garden table next to him. "Greetings friends and welcome to my ship," he said warmly, walking towards his guests. "I am Captain Neweyes. I live in the far future where all the species of all the planets had to learn to get along."

Sam didn't move from her spot, turning away from the dinosaurs- hoping the shadow of the trees and plants would shelter her from sight. She didn't want to face them after her harsh words. She blinked when Vorb buzzed in her face, giving her a glare, motioning her to greet them as well. Sam simply glared back and swatted him away with her hand. She was still mad at him for making her go after Rex. Vorb wasn't having that. He grabbed at her light blond hair and tried to tug her into the open.

She hissed from the pain, and grabbed her own hair to tug back, consisting them to go into a silent tug-o-war.

"Right, Vorb?" Captain Neweyes smiled over his shoulder at the green martian, causing the two to look up like two deer caught in the headlights with everyone staring at them.

Vorb smiled sheepishly and abruptly let go of Sam, making her yelp as she toppled over. "That's the truth, skipper," he chirped with his hands innocently behind his back.

Captain Neweyes gave him a knowing-stern look before motioning to Sam with his hand. "And you all have met my lovely granddaughter, Samantha Neweyes. She is from the middle future, where planet Earth is still fairly young."

Sam stood up, rubbing at her sore head. "Hi," she greeted curtly, avoiding eye contact with the dinosaurs.

"Hi Samantha!" Dweeb waved at her happily, not catching her unwelcoming tone. Sam grinded her teeth irritably.

The Captain waved for the dinosaurs to step off the elevator, "I have made a fortune with my Brain Grain cereal and now in my golden years, I've been trying to get something back." He nodded to Sam, indicating she should follow. Sam reluctantly trailed behind everyone as her grandfather led them towards a glowing curtain in the center of the room. "I'm trying to get a few wishes to come true," he continued, stirring his coffee with a spoon as the the dinosaurs surrounded him with curiosity. "And in that end, I invented this," he pointed the spoon towards the curtain.

Vorb tugged on a string, making the curtains reveal a rather magnificent glowing machine. It was small and round, making bubbling noises. In the center of it looked like a glowing shape of an angel. Sam couldn't help but look up at it. There was warmth and love that came from her grandfather's invention. It always drew her breath away.

"It's a wish radio," informed the Captain. He motioned them to wait for a moment before walking over to the radio and placing his hand proudly on top. "With it- I can hear what people are wishing for. Especially young people because they wish the loudest." He turned his eyes over to Sam with a warm smile, "isn't that right, Samantha?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Her wishing; that was how Captain Neweyes found her in the first place.

The Captain turned back to the radio. "Now, let me tune in this one station the middle future." He turned the knob in the center of the machine and cheerful laughter began to literally bubble from it. Out of the glowing angel, bubbles blew out, carrying the images of children inside.

Sam watched as they were all surrounded by joyful bubbles, trying to move away slightly, afraid to accidentally burst some. One bubble in particular got close to her with a little boy in it. " _I wish I had a mustache just like Daddy,"_ his voice echoed pitifully. She snorted. Out of all the things to wish for…

Another bubble contained two little twin girls with glasses. They looked like they just had a fight with each other. " _I wish my sister was nicer to me…"_ one of them said tearfully.

" _I wish that all the dinosaurs could be here right now!"_ a Japanese girl exclaimed excitedly.

" _I wish I could see… a tyrannosaurus rex!"_

"Rex?!" The said dinosaur looked elated at that specific wish. "Why Captain, that's **me!** " Rex saw Sam stare strangely at him and he cleared his throat. "Th-that's me…" he said more quietly, glancing down.

" _I wish I could see one of those flying dinosaurs!"_

Elsa laughed happily as she gently and lovingly embraced the bubbles with her wings, "why, that's me. I fly."

" _I wish I could see a… apatosaurus."_

"Go-LLY! This is great!" Dweeb circled in place with a delighted smile on his face.

" _I wish I could see a triceratops."_

" _I wish I could see dinosaurs! Dinosaurs!"_

Woog laughed heartily as he floated on top of hundreds of bubbles, somehow not bursting any of them. "Son of a gun-asaur. That's us!"

"That's right, that's you." Captain Neweyes nodded as he turned off the radio. "There are a lot of children down there in this particular time who miss you. And they're wishing for you." He held up one bubble with two kids hugging a plush tyrannosaur. "I've never heard a louder wish."

"These kids have no idea what they are asking for…" Sam muttered with a frown. She honestly couldn't understand why they would wish for such a thing. Have none of these kids seen _Jurassic Park_? Interaction with dinosaurs never led to anything good.

"You used to wish for the same thing," her grandfather said to her with a smile, handing her the bubble.

"Seriously?" Sam wrinkled her nose at it, "I obviously didn't know any better." She blew at the bubble, making it dissolve into many smaller bubbles before they all quickly burst.

Her grandfather shook his head and turned to catch another large bubble in his hands, "because of these wishes- we gave you all Brain Grain, and now you are smart enough to make up your own minds."

Rex leaned down to look into it. "Who's that?" he asked.

"They're young people. Boys and girls," said the Captain. "They want to meet you. What do you say?"

A bubble flew towards Rex and he gently took it in his hands, gazing into it. Inside was a young girl who looked extremely familiar. She had short blonde hair in a blue headband and a sprinkle of freckles on her nose. She was curled up on a sleeping bag, her eyes brimmed with tears. She fidgeted nervously, as if frightened. " _I wish…"_ she whispered. " _I wish…"_

"What is it, little one?" Rex tried to coax her softly, even though she couldn't hear him.

Sam noticed the bubble in his hands and she stiffened. Her face reddened in anger and without realizing, she began to stride over to Rex.

The little girl in the bubble trembled, causing Rex's heart to ache. He wanted to comfort her. She gave a final shuddering sigh and croaked, " _I wish I wasn't alone."_

 _POP!_

Rex blinked and flinched when something hit him in the snout rather painfully. He looked down to see a small rock clatter to the floor. Before him stood a seething Sam, positioned in a way that told him that she was the one who threw the rock. Confused, he opened his mouth to say something.

"Mind your own business!" Sam cut him off with a snarl before running away.

Stunned, Rex just watched her leave; uncertain what it was that he had done now. "Did I do something… bad again?" he asked the Captain when he stood next to him.

Neweyes sighed sadly, raking a hand across his own head. "No, Rex. You have done nothing wrong. You just happened to catch a painful memory of hers. " He looked up at the orange tyrannosaur, "that wish had reopened an old wound in her heart.

Rex furrowed his brows in thought and then his eyes widened in realization. "That was Sam?" he breathed.

The Captain nodded heavily and walked further into the room, sipping his coffee.

Rex just stood there, his insides squeezing uncomfortably. Somehow, knowing that the small broken little girl was Sam tore at him. This simply wasn't right. Little Sam should be laughing and bouncing with merriment like the other children. What on earth happened? What made her turn into a withdrawn and bitter teenager she was now?

" _Gee…"_ A voice made Rex turn his head to his right to see one last bubble float by. Inside was a young boy in a red cap. He looked pretty sad too as he weighed his cheek in one hand. " _I wish I had a friend."_ The bubble popped before Rex could touch it. He frowned thoughtfully, clenching on hand into a fist as determination surged within him. He had to do something. These children _needed_ them. If he didn't do anything, they could end up like Sam, and Rex didn't want that. _No!_ He will not let it happen.

Raising his head, Rex called after the Captain, "we'll do it!"

The Captain stopped in his tracks and looked back at Rex, with amazement. "You will?"

"Why not? I'd love to," Dweeb was on board.

"By all means," Elsa nodded. She wanted to bring joy to the children just as much.

The Captain beamed. "Then I thank you. You all will be a miraculous gift to the world." He walked over to a lever and pulled it, causing the spaceship to levitate and fly into the sky. The dinosaurs watched in awe as they positioned over the planet and Neweyes fiddled with some controls and Vorb pulled another lever, making a sign popup that said 'middle earth.' Time began to fast forward. The earth spun like a top and the universe seemed to spin along with it, the stars shooting across the sky. Eventually, it all came to a stop.

Vorb sighed happily at the site of the blue planet. All the continents had shifted into their modern positions when all of a sudden, the alarm on his watch went off. "Oh!" He zoomed back to the Captain and he whistled for attention. "Excuse me, Captain Neweyes-sir! We've arrived!" He pointed the window and trumpeted with his mouth.

"Thank you, Vorb. Please fetch my granddaughter, will you?"

The martian saluted, "I'm on it!" and with that, he was gone.

* * *

Sam glared up at her ceiling, not feeling at the least bit comforted by the images of the constellations twinkling above her like real stars. She couldn't wait for the dinosaurs to be off the ship so she could finally be rid of them. At the thought, her heart throbbed and her eyes softened. A feeling of guilt and loneliness washed over at her. It would be really quiet in the ship without them… without Elsa to constantly fuss over her and give her hugs. Without Dweeb's snarky comments and Woog's insatiable appetite. Without Rex…

The blonde groaned and rolled over to her side, trying to fight away her nagging conscience that reminded her of her hurtful attitude towards him. It didn't matter anymore. It wasn't like she was going to see them again-

"Hey there Sam-Ham!" Vorb burst into her room, unannounced as usual.

"What is it _now_?" she groaned. Couldn't he just leave her alone for one measly moment?!

"Your grandfather's asking for you to come to the main deck. So let's go! Up, up, up!" Vorb flew around her, "move that tushy!" He yelped when he got struck with a pillow.

Sam grumbled and walked out of her room. She had no idea what she was needed for now. Maybe her grandpa wanted her to apologize for her behavior earlier before he sent the dinosaurs down to earth? She dreaded having to do so… even though she knew it was the right thing to do.

* * *

The dinosaurs gasped in wonder and amazement as they looked at the city beneath them as the platform shaft opened up. No longer was it a world with trees and marshlands. There were buildings and skyscrapers glistening in the night.

"It's a world covered in jewels," Elsa sighed at the beauty of it all.

"Yeah!" Dweeb gaped with wide eyes.

Rex smiled at it all, his eyes almost tearing up from how incredible this was. "Look at all those lights…"

The door closed beneath them, shutting the view away.

"Now, there are two people down there you should know about," the Captain's voice brought them back to reality. He threw some sparkling powder into the air making it into a smokescreen with images on it that came from a projector in his hand. First they saw a video of a plump old small woman making a welcome sign. "One person is there to help you. Her name is Doctor Juliet Bleeb."

"Oh, I like her face," commented Elsa. "So full of character."

" _Welcome! Welcome!"_ Doctor Bleeb chanted gleefully.

Neweyes nodded, "she knows that you are coming. She needs you to grant the wishes of many children. Her address is the Museum of Natural History." He winked over to the dinosaurs.

"The Museum of Natural History," Rex repeated seriously before smiling and winking back, showing that he had remembered it.

The Captain's face then darkened as he got around to the next slide. "Now the next person you should know about is my brother… Professor Screweyes." He turned the projector back on causing an uncomfortable image of a hysterical and twisted old man to appear. The dinosaurs seemed to jump at his horrific laughter and the uncanny sight of a screw taking the place of one eye. The professor chortled as he danced around while crows flew around him. "He is cruel and he is insane and the source of my granddaughter's nightmares," the Captain glared up at the screen before shutting it off. "He travels around at this time causing mischief. He was driven mad by the loss of his eye long ago. Samantha was placed under his care when my son had sadly passed away. I was lucky enough to find and take her from him before he did any real damage."

The dinosaurs all looked at each other, startled and horrified to hear that their Sam was once placed in this madman's hands. Elsa had her hands over her beak, aghast. "Oh…" she began sadly, "that poor, poor dear."

Quiet anger sparked in the back of Rex's skull as he replayed the image of Sam's younger self crying into her arms. He had no doubt that this professor was responsible.

"My advice to you is to find Doctor Bleeb and stay clear of my dark and unhappy brother," Neweyes told them seriously. "Beyond that," he smirked knowingly at Woog, "try not to step on anybody."

Woog chuckled nervously.

"Grandpa." They all turned to see Sam walking somewhat timidly towards them with Vorb buzzing behind her. "You needed me for something?"

"Yes, yes I have an important job for you, Samantha," the Captain smiled at her. "I need you to guide our friends to the Museum of Natural History."

Sam's face blanched and the dinosaurs looked at Neweyes with surprise. "Wha- no!" she protested. "Why in the world do you want _me_ to-"

"You were right, Samantha," her grandfather interrupted. "When you said that dinosaurs suddenly appearing on earth among humans could cause chaos. That is why they need a chaperone- and who knows New York City better than you?"

The girl could hardly believe what he was saying. She didn't even notice that Vorb and secretly strapped a parachute bag to her as she stared wide eyed at Neweyes. "You have got to be joking!" she exclaimed as Vorb did the same for the other dinosaurs. "I don't want to go back there again! Please don't make me!" she pleaded. That time and place held nothing but painful memories for her.

"Daffodils, Samantha," the Captain said softly, causing her eyebrow to raise in confusion. "I can't keep you hidden from the world forever. You need to accept that the past has happened and that it is time to move on. Blossom into the happy young lady that your parents always wanted you to be." He smiled kindly at her even as her knees began to tremble. "You'll be fine, sweetheart. These four will make sure of that."

"Grandpa...wait…"

"Farewell, my friends!" he waved to them all, causing the girl and dinosaurs to blink in confusion. They haven't even landed yet, why was he telling them farewell? None of them noticed Vorb pulling a lever and the ground beneath them disappearing.

They all screamed, falling through the gap in the ship. Rex's hand shot up and his claws gripped the edge, screeching to a halt. He felt Sam's arms clinging desperately around his neck as her shoes scraped across his back, her heart hammering away in her chest. Woog had grabbed onto his tail while his own was caught in Dweeb's mouth. Elsa dangled as she gripped Dweeb, holding onto a large floating device with her feet.

"You've got to be **kidding**!" Rex shouted up at the Captain, barely able to hang on with all the weight tugging down at him. "You'll kill us all!"

"Grandpa!" Sam screamed in terror. She couldn't bear to look down. The wind raged around them, threatening to blow them away.

Vorb flew down to Rex's claws with a crowbar, grinning from ear to ear. "Long live the king!" he quoted.

Sam gaped at him with disbelief. "Vorb! Don't you _dare!_ "

He did. Vorb unhinged Rex from the ship sending them all plummeting down hundreds of feet. "Arrivederci! Goodbye!" he waved down at them as they screamed. "Elsa! You can fly, remember?!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Mwahahahaha! Hurray for _Lion King_ references! Get it? Cause 'Rex' means king? Yeah? Yeah? ...No one appreciates puns anymore.

 **Guest Melissa and Alejandra:** Actually, we can't blame Youtube for it. Copyright rules and everything. They could get into trouble too. Don't worry. Sam will warm up to Rex eventually. Thank you, dears.

 **Carlisle Fan 22:** I grew up on this movie too. This and _The Land Before Time._ Dinosaurs were the best during the 90's. Thank you!

 **Whiteling:** Oh yes, and down they go-go-go… xD

 **Wolfe's Girl:** Thank you. :)

 **Guest:** Aww, thank you! Yes, I love it when Elsa and Sam have their moments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. :)


	5. New York City

**We're Back: Sam's Story**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: New York City**

* * *

As they fell, the wind tore the dinosaurs apart from each other. Sam screamed as her fingers slipped from around Rex's neck and she was purely airborne without a single sense of security to hold onto. It was extremely terrifying.

She was going to die. She was going to _freakin' DIE!_ She was going to die with a bunch of 'should-be-extinct' dinosaurs from falling down to her birthplace with a parachute bag strapped to her back! Oh...wait...

Sam frantically searched for the release string as the wind wildly pushed up at her, nearly blinding her with its cold rush. It's pretty difficult to concentrate when you're falling miles down and your stomach is about ready to empty its contents. Screaming, panicking dinosaurs didn't help the situation either.

Luckily, she didn't have to pull anything. Her parachute automatically flung itself open, making her gasp as her body jerked upwards before slowly making a decent. Sam just hung there, eyes wide, mouth open, trying to breath. She could hear the blood pumping through her ears. The dinosaurs also were saved by their parachutes (except for Elsa who finally remembered that she had wings), and they all circled each other as they flew down. Everyone was stunned quiet- except for Dweeb, who was chortling in amusement.

"I-is everyone alright?" Rex gasped out.

"I think I'm going to lose all them hot dogs," Woog said with a green face.

"Sam? Sam, are you alright?" Rex called out worriedly.

Sam had a death grip on the parachute strings and was too much in shock to answer. She was still trying to remember how to think.

"You are okay, you will be just fine," Rex tried to ease the girl- taking her silence as a 'no.' Sam muttered something and he perked his head up to try and catch her words. "What was that?"

"I said- I can't swim!" Sam shouted, alerting the dinosaurs to their destination below. Instead of a sturdy ground, they realized that they were headed straight for the ocean. The only thing there aside from the water was a measly looking raft that was blasting rock-and-roll music. Sailing it, was a boy, approximately ten years of age or so. He was making himself an egg sandwich with a strange contraption, completely oblivious that it was raining dinosaurs- all the while rocking out on a broom as a makeshift guitar.

"Look out below!" Woog bellowed.

The boy looked up at the sky, the sandwich still in his mouth. His eyes went wide with disbelief before they all crashed into his raft. Sam panicked as she flailed about in the cold water. She tried to untangle herself from the parachute so she could struggle to get back to the surface. Unfortunately, she began to sink like a rock as she only got more tangled up in the parachute. She could still hear the music gurgling as the radio sank to the depths. Luckily, an orange tail hooked around her waist and she was pulled out of the water. She gasped for air- coughing and sputtering.

Rex carefully dropped her into an inflatable raft that Elsa had held onto. He then quickly plopped himself into it with a gasp, accidentally triggering physics to spring Sam into the air as his weight shifted the balloon boat. "Oomph!" she sprawled out on his stomach ungracefully- knocking the breath out of her. The other dinosaurs clung to the sides of the boat, eyes wide with fear and amazement.

"Wow! Let's do that again!" Dweeb cheered with a snort. That earned him a lot of death-glares. "What?"

Sam wiped the wet hair out of her eyes, "I am going to kill that little alien if I ever see him again." It didn't help that it was Vorb's fault that she refused to have anymore swimming lessons…

Finally calming down, the dinosaurs finally had a good look at their surroundings. The fact that they were impressed was a bit of an understatement. "Well- great day in the morning!" Woog said with a smile.

"Oh!" Elsa clasped her hands together with delight as the sound of sirens faintly echoed in the distance.

"Wow…" Rex gasped as he sat up slightly, allowing Sam to slide off and back onto the boat.

"Magnificent!" Elsa sighed as she stared at the large city.

"Gee wiz…" Dweeb agreed.

"Great… I'm back," Sam groaned as she slumped backwards onto her back and draped an arm over her eyes. If she still wasn't so dizzy from falling from hundreds of feet in the air, she might have appreciated the morning view of the city.

"What is it?" Elsa questioned.

Before Sam could answer, a splash and the sound of a kid coughing reminded them that they were not alone. They all looked up to see a boy struggling to keep himself afloat. "It's New York City, you moron!" he spat angrily. He grabbed onto nearby floating skateboard to keep his head above water.

"Whoa there, little fella." Rex used his tail to fish the kid out of the water. He then picked him up with his claws by the scruff of his jacket to move the boy to safety. It was then when the kid realized that he was surrounding by a bunch of talking dinosaurs. The kid gaped with horror at them. A proper reaction according to Sam.

Dweeb, of course, was the first one to get in the kid's face. "Hi! My name is Dweeb!"

"I'm Woog," the triceratops waved.

Elsa curtsied with her wings, "I'm Elsa."

"Sam," the girl greeted in a tired monotone as she struggled to untangle herself from her parachute. "Yes, there are a bunch of sentient dinosaurs talking to you. No, you are not dreaming." The kid stared at her as if he didn't believe her.

"The name's Rex," the large dinosaur dangled the kid in front of his face. "What's yours?"

"I think my name is Louie," the boy answered with a thick Manhattanite accent. "But seeing you's gets me doubts about my brain!" he looked back and forth between Rex and the other dinosaurs with confusion. "What are you guys anyway?" he asked as Rex sat him in his palm. "You can't be _real_ dinosaurs," he peered into Rex's mouth, checking out his teeth.

"We are, actually," Elsa stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

Louie scratched his head as it finally began to sink in. "Real dinosaurs, huh? You do got that look, I mean…you're big! "

"Well, you're very small," Elsa said as she perched on Rex's head.

"I'm big enough to suit my own purposes," Louie rebutted instantly. He climbed onto Rex's face and tried to look larger than he really was in front of Elsa. "What are you? A bat?"

Elsa brushed off the comment. "I'm a pterodactyl, actually," she said proudly.

Louie spread open Elsa's wings, creating a sail for their odd boat. Amused by his actions, Elsa laughed and kept her wings open, thinking he was admiring them.

"Well, what are you?" Dweeb asked curiously. "You look human enough."

"I was a runaway to the circus 'til you clowns sank me."

Sam froze.

"What's the circus?" Woog asked curiously while Louie had Dweeb use his tail as a propeller and move the boat.

"' _What's the circus?_ '" Louie looked at them oddly. "It's the big top, leatherhead. Show business. You guys ain't lived."

"Hey kid, if you wanna go into show biz, try Hollywood," Sam suggested, squeezing the water out of her hair. "I hear that they are always looking for new talent. Though you might want to ask your parents for their permission first."

"Permission?!" Louie scoffed. "Lady, do you even know what it means to be a runaway?"

Sam glared at Louie and crossed her arms. "Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I do." She gave him a good look over. Despite his ragged appearance of a wet dog and bad boy attitude, she could tell that he had meat on his bones. Probably slipped out his window this very morning. There was no fear in his eyes, and that leather jacket looked like it cost a good amount. He didn't look like he came from an abusive household. "Why did you run away in the first place? Do your parents not treat you right?"

"They don't beat me, if that's what you are gettin' at," the boy mimicked Sam by crossing his arms. He didn't like the judging expression she had on her face.

"Ahhh," Sam nodded, her eyebrows raising in understanding. "They don't beat you _enough_."

Louie sputtered and dropped his arms in disbelief, "what's your problem?"

"Nothing," Sam stated curtly. "I'm just trying to figure out yours. By the looks of you, you are a recent runaway. Nice clothes and you look well fed. Judging by that tough act you are putting on and the 'I can do everything myself' attitude, I can guess that you are spoiled rotten by overly affectionate parents and are using that to counter it."

Louie stared at her blankly.

"Am I right?" Sam pressed.

"What's it to ya?" Louie scowled. "Can you imagine being kissed in public? All the guys would laugh at me. Who wouldn't want to get away from that?"

Sam couldn't wrap her mind around it. "Why would you _want_ to get away from that? You have parents who love you. Most kids would scale the empire state building just to have parents who give a damn about them."

"Yeah, and what would you know about it?"

Sam wanted to say more, but she clammed up and sat down criss-cross with her back turned to Louie. She wasn't about to spill her guts out for some pompous kid.

Louie scoffed before turning back to the dinosaurs and climbing up onto Woog's back. "So, where you guys going anyways?"

"We're going to the _Museum of Natural History_ ," Rex cited and gave a wink to Louie who returned it.

"That's perfect! There's a circus showing in Central Park! One's right by the other. Give me a lift to the circus, take a gander… and cross right over to the museum."

"Yes, perfect. Let's just have a bunch of dinosaurs casually walk into town. I'm sure no one will bothered," Sam rolled her eyes.

"No one will be bothered," Louie told her. "They would all just think that they are part of the circus act. I'd bet that showing up with a pack of dinosaurs should put me in real solid with the ringmaster. What do you say?"

"Well I'm game!" Dweeb agreed without a thought.

"Okay!" Woog said.

"Certainly," Elsa added.

"Okay, yeah!" Rex nodded.

"No, no, no, and no!" Sam stood up and glared at everyone. "What is it with all of you and speaking before you think? Grandpa told us to go straight to the museum. No getting side-tracked!"

"But Sammy, the museum is right next to the circus. Surely we can take a quick peek," Dweeb whined.

"Yeah, _Sammy_. Quit being such a sour puss," Louie smirked.

"What did you call me?" Sam stomped over to Louie with a scowl.

"A sour puss. I mean sheesh, you're so uptight! I'd take it that you're the type of goody-two-shoes that does whatever the grownups tell ya. You're never gonna make any friends with that teacher's pet attitude of yours."

"Fine!" Sam snapped. "We'll go to that dumb circus of yours. But the moment we get there, we're dropping your butt off and leaving."

"That's fine by me!" Louie snapped back.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

" _Fine!_ "

Louie watched as Sam plopped down on the edge of the raft and kicked at the water in anger, ignoring them the rest of the way. "Is she always this friendly?" he asked the dinosaurs.

"Er… define friendly?" Woog asked slowly.

"Ugh, nevermind."

The inflatable boat reached the harbor soon enough as the foghorn blared in the distance. They crashed straight into the harbor platform, causing a bunch of seagulls to scatter. They all managed to crawl onto the platform, off of the boat.

"Welcome to New York City!" Louie presented with his hand.

The dinosaurs all looked up at the towering skyscrapers in fascination, particularly at the twin towers. Sam couldn't help but feel uncomfortable staring at the architecture, knowing that in a few years, the twins will not be standing there anymore. Her unhappy thoughts were cut off when she heard a startled gasp and then a loud splash. She looked back, but Rex was nowhere in sight.

"Rex!" Sam was the first one run and peer over the edge, the others just behind her. She saw the Tyrannosaur struggling to keep his head over the water. "Rex!"

"Help!" he roared, "I can't swim!"

"Hang on, big fella!" Louie shouted down to him. The boy looked around frantically for something that could get Rex out of the water. His eyes landed on an excavator and he ran towards it. "Lift me up!"

Woog used his tail to hoist Louie up and Elsa used her wing to send the boy inside the machine. Louie searched around the interior, overwhelmed by the amount of levers and buttons. He groaned and began to stammer, "Think, think, think, think, think, Louie, think!"

"Help!" Rex flailed his small arms and choked on the salt water.

Sam's face went pale when he went under. She turned her head and shouted up to Louie, "you need to turn the thing on!"

"How?!"

"I don't know! Find a key to start it, or something! _Anything!_ "

Louie muttered, "key...key...key… yes! There it is!" He grabbed the key that was luckily still inside the machine and twisted it. The excavator began to rumble and he blindly grabbed for a random lever. Luckily, it sent the machine's dipper reaching down into the water.

"Rex! You have to grab on!" Sam yelled, unsure if the submerged dinosaur could hear her. She saw him struggling to reach for it. "Come on, Rex! Please!"

With a great amount of effort, Rex managed to grab hold of the dipper. However, his weight nearly tipped the excavator into the water along with him.

In a panic, the rest of the dinosaurs held it back down, and the machine finally pulled out Rex from the ocean. Rex wheezed and dropped to the floor once the excavator slowly let him go.

"Rex!" Sam ran over to him and placed her hands on his snout. He was out cold. She stared in concern at him and patted his nose gently, trying to get him to come to. "Rex?" She jumped back when he blew out a giant water bubble from his mouth. His eyes cracked open and they just stared at each other through the bubble.

" _I wish… I wish…"_

Rex could hear the youthful voice whisper in his head. It was sad and frightened, just like how Sam looked right now. "Hey…" he said softly as he reached for the bubble. "It's okay," he tried to comfort her reflection, still a bit out of it.

" _I wish I wasn't alone…"_

The bubble popped and Rex blinked, returning to reality. Instead of the bubble, it was Sam standing in front of him, looking both confused and worried. Rex smiled warmly at her and stood up. He gently laid a hand on her head and stroked her blonde hair. "I'm here now."

Sam froze, staring at him with wide blue eyes. What was he doing? He nearly drowned and yet she was the one that was being comforted. The caring way Rex was treating Sam was growing too much for her and her face reddened. She pushed his hand away and covered her face in her arm, giving the impression that she was about to sneeze or cough. In reality, she was just embarrassed by the affection. "Yeah, you are…" she muttered. "Just don't go falling into water again."

Rex was momentarily stung when Sam smacked him away, but soon chuckled when he realized that she wasn't angry at him. "I promise."

"Hey, are you okay?!"

Rex turned to see Louie running up to him, out of breath. The dinosaur smiled, "yeah, I am thanks to you." He offered a hand to the boy. "I owe you one, Louie."

Louie laughed and turned his back on Rex, waving his gratitude away. "These things happen."

Rex didn't let Louie brush him off. He placed a friendly hand on Louie's shoulder and smiled kindly at the boy. Rex didn't mention it to anyone, but he recognized Louie from the wish machine as well. He was the same boy who wanted a friend. Well, Rex was more than willing to become that friend.

Louie turned around and looked up at Rex. They both stared at each other before Louie finally gave in. The boy smiled and let out a sigh. He blew his bangs out of his blue eyes and said, "just get me to the circus and we'll say no more about it."

"Sounds good to me," Sam agreed and they all began to follow after Louie towards the city.

In his haste to follow, Rex accidentally bumped his head against one of the machines and stumbled, "Ow! Ooh, ooh!"

"Be careful, will ya?" Louie called back to him. "I can't be savin' you every two minutes."

Sam rolled her eyes, it was a wonder that Rex hadn't gone extinct before she had found him. Unbeknownst to her or the dinosaurs, they had just missed a certain old lady on a scooter who was late for their rendezvous. Turns out, Captain Neweyes had forgotten to mention that she was coming to get them.

* * *

 **A/N:** _It's been a year, I know. It certainly didn't feel like a year to me at all, but a few months. Ah, well. I can't promise that the next chapter will come soon, but who knows? I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stay tuned for the next one._


End file.
